


acceleration

by gemineyes



Series: endgame [3]
Category: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Genre: Anyways, Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Road Trips, benny is a simp, im in love with beth harmon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:29:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28676715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemineyes/pseuds/gemineyes
Summary: It's time that Beth finally learned to drive, and Benny is more than up for the job.
Relationships: Beth Harmon/Benny Watts
Series: endgame [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068377
Comments: 14
Kudos: 122





	acceleration

Beth Harmon is an anomaly. At least, that’s how it seemed to Benny Watts, as he sat passenger side with her beside their New York apartment, the orange hue of a nearby street light illuminating her puzzled expression. This woman was a _world champion_ , easily the best chess player he’d ever encountered, the best _anyone_ had. She was known for her unmatched confidence, and yet here she was, close to tears over starting up Benny’s beetle.

“I just don’t…”

“Turn the key, Beth. Just turn it.”

“But what if… “ she rubbed her hands over her eyes, letting out a shaky breath. 

“It’s not going to fucking explode, Beth, just turn the key.”

She exhaled, composing herself. 

“You can do this, Beth,” she muttered to herself, eyes closed in quiet determination.

Benny shook his head in disbelief. He had thought she was kidding when she first told him she couldn’t drive. He had thought at _some_ point during her extensive education someone would have taught her, or at least given her the basics. 

“Methuen didn’t have a program,” she had said. “And Alma could barely drive herself.”

It wasn’t his immediate intention to teach her. But as he mulled over it, the thought became increasingly more appealing. Beth was better than him in nearly every skill. She didn’t like to gloat, she didn’t have to. In the months they’d lived in the new apartment, she had proven to be an incredible cook, an outstanding writer, and a formidable athlete. _Was there anything she couldn’t do?_ Apparently, there was. And though Beth didn’t like to gloat, Benny did. And this seemed like the perfect opportunity. He’d proposed that she drive them to Boston for the U.S Championship, and she’d accepted. Probably hoping to prove herself to him, to show that she really _could do it_ , she just hadn’t yet. He chuckled to himself recalling the conversation. 30 minutes had passed since they’d gotten in the car, with no movement as of yet. She was eating her words. 

“I’m waiting for the right moment.” She shifted in her seat, gripping the wheel with neatly manicured nails.

“Sure you are.” 

Benny reclined, crossing his legs on the dashboard. Perhaps he should encourage her into getting moving. As much as he was enjoying this rare moment of humiliation, they _did_ need to get going, and his taunting wasn’t helping. The drive to Boston was over three hours, and it was already 6:30. She’d insisted they get dinner _before,_ likely hoping to delay this moment for as long as possible. Benny thought this might happen, and booked a hotel room for the night in Connecticut in anticipation. Of course, he didn’t tell Beth this, and wasn’t planning on it, until absolutely necessary. He couldn’t let on that he was anything less than completely confident in Beth’s abilities. He cleared his throat.

“Beth. You can do this. Idiots can do this; people a million times less capable than you.” Benny extended a reassuring hand, rubbing up and down her arm.

“I could kill us, Benny. One wrong move and we’re dead.”

She was right, he supposed. He looked over at her again, as she anxiously tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. It occurred to him that he did trust her with his life.

“It’s easier for idiots. They don’t realize that,” she muttered. Her voice was growing steadily quieter, and Benny could tell she was getting angry. Not at him, but at herself, which was arguably worse. Beth was always her own worst enemy.

“Look, Beth.” He gestured around them. “There’s no one here. It’s Wednesday night. We’re in New York City, traffic will only decrease on the interstate. It’s a matter of focus. You’re good at that, right?”

She nodded, eyes still closed.

“You’re not going to kill us, I promise.”

His promise really meant nothing. Benny did not know the lengths of Beth’s inexperience, nor could he predict the actions of others they’d encounter. For all he knew, she very well _could_ kill them. Still, his assurance seemed to mean something to her, and he was glad. She opened her eyes and shook out her arms, getting into position. He had gone over the basic controls as soon as they got in the car, it was just a matter of Beth learning to apply them. She lowered her foot onto the gas, but the car remained idle. She looked to Benny in confusion.

“You didn’t start the car,” he explained, working hard to suppress his laughter.

“Oh.” Her cheeks turned a bright red as she cautiously turned the key, taken aback by the noise the car made in response. 

“Now,” Benny said.

She put the car in drive and they began, albeit very slowly, to move. 

It took her a while to become comfortable with the pedals, to know the right balance of gas and break, but after the first hour, she was managing well. They’d been driving in silence, though Benny hadn’t moved his eyes from her. He had to make sure she didn’t make a mistake, after all. As time went on, though, he found himself increasingly less focussed on the driving, and more and more focussed on the driver herself.

“Benny.”

“Yes?” he was surprised to hear Beth’s voice. 

“I’m bored.”

“Bored? What, the thrill of the road isn’t enough for you? Man,” he sighed, “ women.”

Beth shook her head disapprovingly, but Benny saw the smile she was working hard to conceal.

“Are you sure we can’t just turn on the radio?”

“No. Too distracting.”

“We play chess when you’re driving.” 

She makes a right turn. _Too wide,_ he thinks to himself.

“Yes, but I’m experienced. You’re a beginner. Hell, an hour and a half ago you’d never sat in the driver’s seat before. You gotta take it slow.”

Though he would never admit it, he was bored too. But he knew he was right. Even just talking to Beth was making him nervous. He bit his lip in absent thought. There was _something_ they could do… He reached under his seat, searching blindly. Finally, his hands brushed across a hard surface. Beth regarded him quizzically as he sat up, having retrieved his own copy of her newly published book: _Beth Harmon: Chess as I See it._ When she was first approached by a publisher, she had said no. She could _play_ chess; writing about it was completely new territory. But Benny had softened her to the idea. It was hard for her to say no to him. The book had been out for nearly a month now, and Beth still adamantly refused to let Benny read it. 

“What. Is. That.”

“Oh nothing.” He smirked, flipping through the pages. “Just some light reading.”

“No, Benny, no.”

He could tell she wanted to reach out and grab it. But she couldn’t, not behind the wheel.

He turned to the first page. “I was nine when I was taught to play-”

“Benny...”

“I learned in the basement of my orphanage-”

“BENNY!”

“Where I was not only taught that complacency was key-”

“Benny Watts, I will stop this car-”

“BUT THAT LIFE REVOLVED AROUND ROUTINE-”

“Oh my GOD Benny.”

“Every day at Methuen home was the same, and it seemed that all of us were, too-”

“Do you enjoy my suffering, Benny?”

He looked up from the book. “Yes, actually.”

She pursed her lips, seething.

“Come on Beth, I’m going to read it eventually.”

She shot him a pointed look.

“Fine, fine.” He raised his arms in surrender. “We can just sit here. In silence.”

He adjusted his position, looking out the window sulkily. 

“Fine. Continue.”

He turned to look at her again, pleased that his ploy had worked.

“It was the janitor, Mr.Shaibel, who taught me the magic of escape...”

They were pulled over on the side of the road, in what looked like the middle of nowhere but was really the middle of Connecticut. Beth needed a break, and being honest with himself, Benny did too. But if they were going to finish the book by the time they got to Boston, he couldn’t afford breaks. He continued to read, voice hoarse, as Beth sipped the coke she brought from home. She looked absent-mindedly out the window, trying desperately to tune him out. Even so, every now and again she’d pipe up with changes she wished she’d made, errors her editor had missed. _She always was her own biggest critic_ , Benny thought. But he himself was impressed. From the way Beth had described it, during the writing process and after the fact, he’d expected a hot mess. But her writing was articulate and calculated. But just like her chess, there was a certain flair that captivated him, even through the detailed and laborious descriptions of games long-exhausted in his own mind. 

“We should get going.” 

Beth looked down at her watch and put her coke back into the cupholder. She turned the key, and the car engine roared. She grabbed the gear shift. Before she could put the car into drive though, the engine puttered out. The two exchanged a look. She tried again. No dice. And again. Still, the car showed no signs of life. Benny sat back, confused. He looked up, eyes surveying the beige ceiling. He stopped when he reached the interior light, which he suddenly registered had been switched on. Thinking it over for a moment, he realized with horror that it had been since he began reading, maybe since they’d gotten in the car in the first place.

“ _Shit_.”

“What happened? What did I do?” She turned to him frantically.

“You didn’t do anything. The battery died. That damn light.”

For a moment she was still. Then a smile, the kind that meant she knew she’d won, took over her face.

“So it’s _your_ fault.” She let out a sigh of relief, glad to have regained an advantage against him. “If only you hadn’t taken out my book.” She grabbed for her coke and took a sip, maintaining eye contact: eyebrows raised, inviting him to argue with her.

“This is serious. We could be out here all night.”

“But don’t you think hearing my _riveting_ story was worth it?”

“No, it wasn’t. But watching you squirm in your seat was.”

She waved him off dismissively and took another sip.

“Don’t you have a…uh….”

“Jump,” he offered. “No. I don’t. I never have that fucking light on. We have to wait for someone.”

He looked at the deserted road. It became increasingly clear that no one would be coming to their rescue anytime soon. They’d have to pay a cancellation fee for the hotel reservation.

“Well, might as well make ourselves comfortable.” He reclined his seat all the way, crossing his arms behind his head and propping up his feet on the dash. 

She reclined her seat, too. Drawing her knees to her core, she curled up to face him. They stayed like this for quite some time. Every now and then there would be a promising sound in the distance, but each time it faded away before becoming close enough. Just when he began to think she’d thought she’d fallen asleep, Beth sat up.

“Benny.”

“Yes?” He rubbed his eyes groggily.

She opened her door suddenly and climbed out, a rush of cold air entering the vehicle. _Huh?_ Benny looked up, shocked to find her perching herself on the hood of the car. Benny got out, hand on hip.

“What the fuck are you doing, Harmon?”

“Come lay with me,” she beckoned.

“Are you crazy? It’s freezing.”

“You have a jacket, don’t you?”

“Yes, but you don’t.”

“I’m not the one who’s cold.”

She sat up in annoyance. “Just come here.”

“Fine,” he conceded, “but you’re still crazy.”

He eased his way onto the car, glad that it seemed to be able to support both of them. Beth rested her head on his shoulder, and he put an arm around her. 

“They’re pretty, don’t you think?” she asked.

“What are?”

“The stars.”

He looked up at them, then back down at her. He planted a kiss on the top of her head. Her hair smelled faintly of clean laundry and roses.

“Yes. Very pretty.”

She chuckled, in a way that told him she knew she wasn’t really listening to her. She shifted her body towards his, positioning herself to be almost on top of him. He moved himself to the side, getting even closer to her. They continued this dance until nearly every part of each of them was touching the other. Benny felt his breathing sync with her’s. He looked around for a moment. They were alone somewhere unknown in Connecticut, and yet neither was too worried, stressed to be so far from home. Because home didn’t mean New York, or Kentucky, or anywhere else for that matter. Home meant one another. Beth ran her fingers through his hair. He smiled to himself. Even after all these years, she _did_ still like it. 

Benny looked down at Beth, whose eyes were closed, and whose breath was slowing. Her skin was illuminated by the pale glow of moonlight. She was beautiful. She always was, and always would be, at least to Benny. It was hard for him to say, but impossible not to think. She was beautiful when she was sharply focussed on her task, whether it be chess or another challenge, beautiful when she rested her chin on her hands, knowing that she’d succeeded. She was beautiful when she smiled, beautiful when she finally burst out laughing, no longer trying to hide her amusement. She was beautiful when she was frustrated, beautiful when she rubbed her temples, attempting to regain her advantage. She was always beautiful. 

And he loved her. He loved her for all her contradictions, for all her flaws and all her bad habits. He loved her for her dedication, her fierce determination. He loved her for the way she looked at him. For the way she raised her eyebrows, challenging him to fight back to her advances. Benny loved Beth the way humans always love what they know they can never understand. But he would try. In this moment, and in every moment, he wanted to try. Maybe that’s what love was, the trying. He was struck with the truth of it all, laying under the night sky. _He loved her._ He should tell her that more often. 

**Author's Note:**

> ik this doesn't have a lot of plot but i love them and i really like the dialogue in this one! hope you enjoyed :)


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